F.A.T. City video analysis
Kelly Baker
F.A.T. City Video Essay
Arkansas State University
September 22, 2014
In the four part video series F.A.T. City, How Difficult Can This Be? Richard D. Lavoie, Director of the Eagle Hill School Outreach Program in Greenwich, Connecticut, takes us into a day in the life of a learning disabled child. Lavoie presents his opinions through a series of activities designed to give children and adults alike an insight into the difficulties an LD child faces day in and day out in the school and at home. F. A. T. City highlights frustration, anxiety, and tension while discussing a wide range of issues that should be addressed in today’s educational system. Appropriately, these lectures are held in a classroom setting with no special equipment. The classroom is what you would find in any public school system in the country. The lecturer takes the main stage in the center of the classroom and is surrounded by the attendees on three sides. The participants range in age from approximately 12 to 55, and the seating is the same that a student would use in a daily classroom. As stated earlier the participants range in age from approximately 12 to 55 with a number of different educational backgrounds. A wide variety of individuals make up the audience including mainstream teachers, special education teachers, parents of LD children, parents of non LD children, therapists, school administrators and even an LD child, and a non LD child. During the activities Lavoie plays the part of a no nonsense teacher barking orders at the participants as if they were his students. In each activity the facilitator (Lavoie) guides the participants into seemingly mundane tasks that you would find in most mainstream classrooms. Lavoie keeps the participants guessing when the “easy” tasks become something much more difficult. The use of the activities contained in this video series were meant to open the eyes of the participants and viewers alike.
F.A.T. City Video Essay
Arkansas State University
September 22, 2014
In the four part video series F.A.T. City, How Difficult Can This Be? Richard D. Lavoie, Director of the Eagle Hill School Outreach Program in Greenwich, Connecticut, takes us into a day in the life of a learning disabled child. Lavoie presents his opinions through a series of activities designed to give children and adults alike an insight into the difficulties an LD child faces day in and day out in the school and at home. F. A. T. City highlights frustration, anxiety, and tension while discussing a wide range of issues that should be addressed in today’s educational system. Appropriately, these lectures are held in a classroom setting with no special equipment. The classroom is what you would find in any public school system in the country. The lecturer takes the main stage in the center of the classroom and is surrounded by the attendees on three sides. The participants range in age from approximately 12 to 55, and the seating is the same that a student would use in a daily classroom. As stated earlier the participants range in age from approximately 12 to 55 with a number of different educational backgrounds. A wide variety of individuals make up the audience including mainstream teachers, special education teachers, parents of LD children, parents of non LD children, therapists, school administrators and even an LD child, and a non LD child. During the activities Lavoie plays the part of a no nonsense teacher barking orders at the participants as if they were his students. In each activity the facilitator (Lavoie) guides the participants into seemingly mundane tasks that you would find in most mainstream classrooms. Lavoie keeps the participants guessing when the “easy” tasks become something much more difficult. The use of the activities contained in this video series were meant to open the eyes of the participants and viewers alike.
References: Lavoie, R. D. and Rosen, P. (1989). F.A.T. City Difficult Can This Be? Rosen, P. USA, PBS Video.